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Using Qlik Application Automation to create and distribute Excel reports in Office 365

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MattGrayndler
Employee
Employee

Using Qlik Application Automation to create and distribute Excel reports in Office 365

Last Update:

Jun 26, 2023 3:26:33 AM

Updated By:

Sonja_Bauernfeind

Created date:

Oct 15, 2021 12:34:34 AM

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With Qlik Application Automation, you can get data out of Qlik Cloud and distributing it to different users in formatted Excel. The workflow can be automated by leveraging the connectors for Office 365, specifically Microsoft SharePoint and Microsoft Excel. 

Here I share two example Qlik Application Automation workspaces that you can use and modify to suit your requirements. 

Content:

 

QAA_O365_Excel_Sharepoint_Report_EmailEG.pngQAA_O365_Excel_Sharepoint_Report_ReportEG.png

Video:


 

Considerations

  • This example is built on distributing a SharePoint link. It is also possible to use attachments with the Mail block (see Creating a Qlik Reporting Service report).
  • Qlik Application Automation has a limit of 100,000 rows when getting data out of a Qlik Sense straight table object.
  • The On-Demand example uses an extension in QSE SaaS to send data to the Automation. An update to the Qlik Sense Button object is expected soon, which will provide a native way to pass selections to an Automation.

 

Example 1: Scheduled Reports

  1. Download the 'Scheduled Report.json' file attached to this document.
  2. Create a new Automation in QSE SaaS, give it a name, and then upload the workspace you just downloaded by right clicking in the editor canvas, and selecting 'Upload workspace'.
  3. Select the 'Create Binary File (Personal One Drive)' block, select 'Connection' in the block configurator to the right, and then create your connection to Microsoft SharePoint.
  4. Select the 'Get Straight Table Data' block. Under 'Inputs' in the block configurator, lookup your the App Id, Sheet Id, and Object Id for the relevant QSE SaaS table you wish to output.
  5. Select the 'Create Excel Table With Headers' block, select 'Connection' in the block configurator, and then create your connection to Microsoft Excel.
  6. Select the 'Send Mail' block. Under 'Inputs' in the block configurator update the 'To' to reflect the addresses you wish to deliver to.
  7. With the 'Send Mail' block still selected, select 'Connection' in the block configurator and add your Sender details.
  8. To test, Save and then Run the Automation
  9. If you receive any warnings or errors, navigate to the relevant blocks and ensure your Connection is selected in the block configurator. 
  10. Select the 'Start' block. Under 'Inputs' in the block configurator, change Run Mode to Scheduled and define your required schedule. 

 

Example 2: On-Demand Reports

Note - These instructions assume you have already created connections as required in Example 1.

  1. Download the 'On-Demand Report v3.json' file attached to this document.
  2. Download and install the 'qlik-blends' extension. See: 
    https://github.com/rileymd88/qlik-blends/files/6378232/qlik-blends.zip
  3. Create a new Automation in QSE SaaS, give it a name, and then upload the workspace you just downloaded by right-clicking in the editor canvas, and selecting 'Upload workspace'.
  4. Ensure your Connections are selected in the block configurator for each of the following blocks, 'Create Binary File (Personal One Drive)', 'Create Excel Table With Headers', 'Add Rows To Excel Worksheet Table (Batch)', 'Create Sharing Link', and 'Send Mail'.  Save the Automation.
  5. Select the 'Start' block and ensure Run Mode is set to Triggered. Make note of the of URL and Execution Token shown in the POST example. 
  6. Open your chosen QSE SaaS application, and Edit the Sheet where you wish to add a Button to trigger an On-Demand report. 
  7. Under 'Custom Objects' look for 'qlik-blends' from the Extensions menu and drag this into your Sheet.
  8. Under the 'Blend' properties to the right, add-in your POST webhook URL and Token as noted in Step 5.
  9. We will now add three measures to the 'qlik-blends' object. It is important you add them in the order described.  Add the first measure, using the following function in the expression editor: GetCurrentSelections()
  10. Add the second measure, using the following function DocumentName()
  11. The final measure will be the Object ID of the table you wish to use. To find the Object ID, select 'Done Editing'.  Then right click on the table, select 'Share', select 'Embed', then look for the Object ID under the preview. Copy this value, go back into Editing mode and paste this as your third measure value. 
  12. With the 'qlik-blends' object selected, under Form select 'Add items'. For 'Item type' select Text. Under default value you can choose to add a default email address. For 'Label' and 'Reference'  type 'Email'. It is critical that Reference is updated to 'Email'.  Turn 'Required input' on. 
  13. You can change the Appearance properties to suit your preferences, such as updating the Button label and message, enabling Dialog, and changing the Color under Theme.
  14. Back in the Automation, under the Start Block. Set  'Run asynchronously' = yes to allow multiple requests to run at the same time (This will also increase the max run time from 1min to 60min)
  15. Once happy, test the On-Demand report by entering an email and clicking the button.

This On-Demand Report Automation can be used across multiple apps and tables.  Simply copy the extension object between apps & sheets, and update the Object ID (Measure 3) for each instance. 

 

Environment

 

The information in this article is provided as-is and to be used at own discretion. Depending on tool(s) used, customization(s), and/or other factors ongoing support on the solution below may not be provided by Qlik Support.

 

Labels (1)
Comments
epatinos
Contributor
Contributor

My reports have been generated with missing information and can't format them with UTF-8.. Can someone help on this?? 😞

 

Thnx!

Sonja_Bauernfeind
Digital Support
Digital Support

Hello @epatinos 

Please post your query and the challenge you are facing in our Application Automation forum, where our support folks and active community can assist you. This sounds like something we cannot approach directly in an article.

All the best,
Sonja 

p0cket0m
Contributor III
Contributor III

I tried to change the header row's background color to blue in the base64 Template. But then all data content rows get a blue background. How to format only the first row?

p0cket0m_0-1688628724094.png

Also I want to change the default black border color to gray, but it has no effect. 

p0cket0m_1-1688628971292.png

At the end it should look like this:

p0cket0m_2-1688629184251.png

Is there any documentation on base64 Excel Template Styling?

  

 

Lech_Miszkiewicz
Partner Ambassador/MVP
Partner Ambassador/MVP

@p0cket0m 

you are using named table in excel there. It is not the same as just styling the cell range. Have a look for example here: https://www.ablebits.com/office-addins-blog/excel-tables-styles/ to see what this is all about.

cheers

renassol
Contributor
Contributor

@MattGrayndler ,

The solution works well, however when I try to use a loop (List Values ??of Field) - to generate an excel of each value inside the loop it gives error. Could you verify ?

 

renassol_0-1689199590652.png

 

error:

 

renassol_1-1689199610941.png

 

Sonja_Bauernfeind
Digital Support
Digital Support

Hello @renassol 

Please post your query and the challenge you are facing in our Application Automation forum, where our support folks and active community can assist you. This sounds like something we cannot approach directly in an article.

All the best,
Sonja 

salmankojar
Creator
Creator

 

Screenshot 2023-08-23 124028.png

 

Jiahui123
Contributor
Contributor
Hi @MattGrayndler . Thank you for the content. However, I am facing the below issue. Kindly assist. Thank you so much.
 
error:
Invalid JSONPath: $.'createBinaryFile(personalOneDrive)'.'@odata.context'
Sonja_Bauernfeind
Digital Support
Digital Support

Hello @Jiahui123 

Please post your query directly in our Qlik Application Automation forum for troubleshooting and general assistance.

All the best,
Sonja 

Jiahui123
Contributor
Contributor

Hi @MattGrayndler 

I am facing the following error message. How do I resolve it? Thank you. 

 

 
error:
Invalid JSONPath: $.'createBinaryFile(personalOneDrive)'.'@odata.context'

 

Version history
Last update:
‎2023-06-26 03:26 AM
Updated by: